From automation to exploration, Salesforce is putting AI to good use. One way it’s really changing the game for its sales teams: using an AI SDR agent to pursue leads that once hit the cutting room floor and add $1.7 million to the pipeline.
“What if you had the ability to have unlimited capacity? And we applied this to our lead follow-up…What if we followed up with every lead?” said Andy White, Salesforce’s SVP of business technology.
The enterprise software behemoth has deployed its AI capabilities in an area it had previously given the cold shoulder: low-ranking sales leads. White says when leads come in they are scored one through five based on purchase likelihood. “Historically, we’ve only engaged with leads three through five—the ones and twos, maybe we would do an email marketing campaign or maybe we would do nothing,” said White. Not anymore. Salesforce’s SDR agent now targets these ones and twos, creating targeted and customized outreach per prospect.
“It shows the power of humans and agents working together, or human and AI working together and that idea of augmentation,” he said.
Proof is in the pipeline
According to Salesforce data, since early July the SDR agent was assigned to over 43,000 leads, resulting in over 110,000 emails sent and 360 meetings booked. This helped the company uncover the $1.7 million in pipeline.
For the people behind the pipeline.
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Business alignment formed the backbone of this endeavor. White asked sales and marketing teams to collaborate cross-functionally to develop the internal SDR agent. He said it was too good an opportunity to pass up. “We call them sawdust, and it’s taking sawdust and turning it into gold,” White said. “Not following up with your customers that said that they wanted to hear from you is probably not a good idea.”
Rocky terrain
Unlocking opportunities to boost sales growth is one thing, but there are concerns that AI’s efficiency gains could drive broader job losses.
It’s far from theoretical. At the beginning of this month, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff confirmed that 4,000 customer support employees were laid off, citing AI deployment as a major catalyst.
The company’s latest revenue guidance underwhelmed Wall Street, despite fiscal Q2 earnings beating expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
The big picture
AI may have a monopoly on known unknowns—from algorithmic bias, to weaponization, and perhaps above all, its impact on the workplace of tomorrow. But for business leaders, some of the immediate upsides are too great to dismiss.
“For the seller, it’s giving them opportunities that they just didn’t have the ability to do before,” White said. “Unlocking trapped value is one huge opportunity.”